The horse in Mongolian culture

They may be trying to develop and diversify their agriculture now (well, since the 1950s), but Mongolians are traditionally very much a nomadic herding culture, with the horse at its centre. ((Though that doesn’t stop them growing small patches of wheat around their temporary encampments, out west in the Altai Mountains.)) One expression of that is how early kids learn to ride.

Most young Mongolians — boys in particular — learn to ride from a very young age. They will then help their fathers with the herding of goats, sheep and horses. Some children have a chance to ride at festivals called Naadam — the biggest of which is held on 11th-13th July in Ulaanbaatar — though there are naadams held throughout the year all over the countryside. Young jockeys between the age of 5 and 12 (girls and boys) race horses over distances ranging from 15km to 30km. There are 6 categories for the races depending on the horses’ age, including a category for 1 year old horses (daag) and one for stallions (azarag).

Unfortunately I just missed the celebrations during my recent visit, but I did see lots of kids riding the sturdy local pony, and recordings of last year’s Naadam races were shown every night on TV, along with old wrestling matches. The Mongolian horse predictably has a long and storied history. And diverse uses. For example, there is fermented mare’s milk (ayrag) in the market, and in some restaurants. This time of the summer is the season for it, and you can see signs advertising its sale all along the main roads out in the countryside. I found it very refreshing, with a more defined taste than its camel counterpart.

And of course eating horse meat is common, with a separate section in the market, and some specialized dishes.

Alas, this museum display is as close as I got to seeing the famous Mongolian Wild Horse or Przewalski’s Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), locally known as takhi.

It’s possibly the “closest living wild relative of the domesticated horse, Equus caballus.” Certainly it is genetically very close to the local domesticated breed based on molecular markers, though that could be because of interbreeding. Last seen in the wild in 1969, its restoration in China and Mongolia from captive stock, for example to the Hustain Nuruu National Conservation Park, is one of the great conservation success stories.